Ultrasonic EMATs for Weld Inspection

Once confined to lab environments, EMAT technology has become

the technique of choice for many industrial applications

BY BORJA LOPEZ AND PAM GREEN

he right nondestructive examination technique not only

helps control the quality of the final product, but also
provides valuable process control feedback to improve
productivity, reduce cost, and increase the efficiency of the
welding machine. This is especially important in high-volume,
continuous processing lines where a few minutes of bad
production can result in significant losses.
In the last decade, powerful ultrasonic electromagnetic
acoustic transducer (EMAT) technology has come of age with
tremendous success, becoming the technique of choice for
many applications.

Comparison of Inspection Methods

(lead photo) Sensor for inspecting tailorwelded blanks.

The most common nondestructive examination solutions for

weld inspection include visual, eddy current, magnetic flux
leakage, radiographic, and ultrasonic techniques.
Automated vision systems inspect both the contour and the
surface of the weld looking for deviations from a
preprogrammed standard. Their resolution and software
capabilities have kept pace with the increase in computing
power; however, they are strictly for surface inspection and the
camera requires direct access to the weld interface. Another
important disadvantage in production environments is the
possible misinterpretation of surface blemishes that do not
affect the structural quality of the weld as defects, causing the
rejection of valid parts. Rugged environments, with fumes and
debris from operations also pose a challenge, affecting the
readings vision systems provide.
Eddy current systems use electromagnetism to provide
surface and a limited level of subsurface inspection (a few
thousandths of an inch). Eddy current is often used in
conjunction with other techniques due to its difficulty detecting
some critical defects and its inability to penetrate the test
material.
Magnetic flux leakage magnetizes the test object and uses
small flux sensors to scan the surface. This method is able to
inspect deeper into the material, but it is highly inaccurate in
characterizing both the size and shape of the defect, and is
limited to thin materials.
Radiographic or X-ray inspection is used to find subsurface
flaws and can penetrate deeply into almost any material. The
slow speed and potential radiation hazards limit its use. The
results in most cases require operator interpretation and it is
seldom used in automated environments.
Ultrasonic testing (UT) uses high-frequency sound waves. It

Fig. 1 EMAT technology is applicable to various types of

inspection, materials, and geometries.

is the fastest growing nondestructive examination technique for

weld inspection. Since the sound can be directed precisely, this
technique is used for both surface and internal inspections.
The most common approaches for weld inspection using
ultrasound are reflection and attenuation. With reflection a
transmitter sends ultrasound toward the weld and a receiver
listens to any reflections or bounces from voids or inclusions
in the weld. With the attenuation technique, a transmitter and
receiver are located so they straddle the weld. The amount of
sound that can travel across the weld can help determine its
quality since a good weld (good fusion) will attenuate less sound
than a bad one. The latter is best suited for determining joining
of welds as in lap and mash seam welds.

Conventional Ultrasonic Testing

In addition to volumetric inspection, ultrasonic inspection
has many advantages over other methods that make it especially

BORJA LOPEZ is Chief Executive Officer (blopez@innerspec.com)

and PAM GREEN is Marketing Manager, Innerspec Technologies, Inc., Lynchburg, Va.
SUMMER 2004 23

Fig. 2 EMAT is a couplant-free

ultrasonic inspection technique.
Fig. 3 A comparison of shear vertical waves (left) and shear horizontal waves.

well suited for weld inspection:

Capable of detecting the most common weld defects
(porosity, pinholes, incomplete fusion, incomplete
penetration, and internal cracking),
Accuracy and sensitivity for the detection of small defects,
Capable of inspecting welds without direct access to the weld
itself,
Safe for both the process and operators,
Fast inspection at production speeds, and
Easy interpretation of results.
The most common method of generating ultrasound waves
uses piezoelectric transducers. Piezoelectric crystals generate
the sound in the transducer, which is subsequently transferred
into the material. Because high-frequency ultrasound does not
travel through air, the transducer needs to be coupled to the
part by means of a liquid (couplant).
The use of couplant and the nature of the technique pose
important limitations:
Difficult to automate,
Unable to inspect at high temperatures,
Sensitive to surface conditions such as roughness and
contamination (dirt, oxide, oil),
Unable to inspect certain materials that require special wave
modes (i.e., shear horizontal).
Maintaining the coupling between the transducer and the test
material is essential for valid results. At high speeds or high
temperatures the couplant can boil off or fail to maintain integrity.
Applying a couplant can also be impractical in automated testing,
or the couplant itself can complicate the inspection.

Introduction to EMATs
For years, manufacturers and customers have designed
sophisticated couplant delivery systems and immersion tanks to
permit ultrasonic inspection using piezoelectric transducers in
industrial environments, making inspection cumbersome and
expensive. In other cases, ultrasonic inspection with conventional
piezoelectric transducers is simply impractical or impossible.
Electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) technology
was developed in the 1970s as a noncontact, dry inspection
alternative to piezoelectric transducers. Initially confined to
laboratories and some high-end applications, it has experienced
growing popularity with the advent of new materials and highspeed electronics.

EMAT Inspection Applications

An EMAT inspection platform can be adapted to most

geometries and applications and works with most metals for all
of the standard UT applications Fig. 1.
Ultrasonic testing with EMAT technology differs from
conventional ultrasonic methods in the way sound is generated
in the part to be inspected Fig. 2. An EMAT, consisting of a
magnet and a coil of wire, uses Lorentz forces and
magnetostriction to generate an acoustic wave within the
material itself. No couplant is required, making EMATs suitable
for automated, high-speed, and in-line inspection applications.
An EMAT induces ultrasonic waves into a test object with
two interacting magnetic fields. A relatively high-frequency
(RF) field generated by electrical coils interacts with a lowfrequency or static field generated by magnets to create the
wave in the surface of the test material. Various types of waves
can be generated using different RF coil designs and orientation
to the low-frequency field. The EMAT technology is the only
practical means for generating shear waves having a horizontal
polarization (SH waves), which do not travel through lowdensity couplants.

EMAT Inspection for Welds

Using Guided Waves
The EMAT technology provides many advantages over
conventional UT for weld inspection. The shear wave is most
commonly used for ultrasonic weld inspection. Shear vertical
(SV) and shear horizontal (SH) both have particle vibrations
perpendicular to the wave direction Fig. 3. Conventional
ultrasonic inspection utilizes the SV wave, with an angle of
between 30 and 60 degrees from the normal beam. Maintaining
the position of the probe is critical to obtaining an accurate
inspection. A limitation of SV waves in weld inspection is their
inability to cover the full vertical volume of the material. At some
points defects may even limit complete inspection.
On the other hand, shear horizontal energy can be extremely
useful for weld inspection in two ways.
1) Shear horizontal waves do not mode convert (change
direction, speed, and motion) when striking surfaces that are
parallel to the direction of polarization. This is especially
relevant when examining austenitic welds and materials with
dendritic grain structures (e.g., certain stainless steels).
2) At 90 deg, shear horizontal energy becomes a guided wave
that fills up the full volume of the material and permits
inspection of the full cross section of the weld. The advantages
of using SH waves at 90 deg for weld inspection include the
following:
Shear horizontal waves fill the volume of the material
independent of thickness enabling inspection of the entire
weld,

24 INSPECTION TRENDS

Fig. 5 An EMAT inspection system

integrated into a flash welding machine.

Fig. 4 The advantages of EMAT technology for weld

inspection.

No rastering motion or phased array of sensors is

necessar y for inspection resulting in space-efficient
inspection equipment,
Separate transmitter and receiver permit normalization of the
signal for self-calibration, guaranteeing maximum reliability,
and
Less sensitivity to probe positioning during inspection
contributes to ease of automation and integration into
production.

in industrial environments.
The ability of EMATs to use guided waves and the
technologys imperviousness to the conditions of the material
make it the technique of choice for many automated applications
where the speed, reliability, and quality of readings is
paramount to the success of the inspection.

Advantages of EMATs for Weld Inspection

Since EMATs generate sound in the part itself instead of in
the probe, they have several advantages over conventional
ultrasonic methods for automated weld inspection. The lack of
couplant eliminates issues with consistency and quality of
readings as well as speed of inspection associated with
piezoelectric UT. The EMATs are also impervious to surface
contamination and can be used on surfaces with dirt, oil, water,
or rust. They can inspect on curved and uneven surfaces. The
benefits of these characteristics have been demonstrated in the
steel, automotive, nuclear, and petrochemical industries with
EMAT inspection systems performing manual and automated
in-line inspection in harsh industrial environments.
Innerspec Technologies has designed, manufactured, and
installed EMAT systems that inspect thousands of welds per day
in the most rigorous industrial environments. Existing EMAT
inspection applications include
Flash weld inspection in steel coils. The EMAT system is
integrated with the welding machine and inspects the weld,
without additional cycle time, prior to moving through the
pickle line and cold mill Fig. 5.
Laser weld inspection. Off-line and in-line inspection systems
inspecting flat panels such as tailor-welded blanks (see lead
photo) and tubular transmission components.
Girth weld inspection. Welded tube and shaft inspection for
automotive and oil industries.
Lap weld inspection. Mash seam welds.

Conclusion
Created as a noncontact, dry alternative to piezoelectric
transducers, ultrasonic EMAT systems are no longer limited to
laboratories and high-end applications and are now widely used
SUMMER 2004 25